The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-02-23


bis character And l know wise men and
great men, competent for all other stations,
who are acting a silly and foolish part in re-
gard to the technicalities Of religion They
ask US some questions which we cannot an
swer categorically, and so they burst into
broad OUTLAW, ms though 1t il Of any more in
terest TO US than IL ought to be TO them.
About the atonement, about Gods DEGREES,
about mans destiny, they ask great many
questions which we cannot answer, and so
they deride us, as though we could
not ask them a thousand questions that
they cannot answer, about their eyes. about
their ears, about their finger nails, about
everything. A fool can ask question that
a wise man cannot answer Oh, you cavn-
ing menl Oh, you profound menl Oh, you
learned men, do please admit something
You have a souIY Yes. VIII it live for
eyera Yes. Wherel You say that Jesus
Christ is not divine Saviour. Who
is hes Where will you go after you leave
your law books, and your medical prescrip-
tons, and your club room, and your news
uaper office-where will yon go tor Your
body viii be six feet under ground Where
will your soul be? The black coat viii be of,
the shroud on Those spectacles VIII be re-
moved from your vision, for the sod viii
=
an earthly almanac describes the years Of
ve,nr Hfetirne2 OF what stuff shall ! gather
the material for the letters Of that word
which describes your eternal home. Shall it
be iron chain or amaTanthine garland. The
air that stirs the besweated locks Of your dy-
ing pillow, will it come of garden or q
desertl o, quit the puzzling questions
and try these momentous questions.
Quit the small questions and
try these great questions. Instead
of discussing whether the serpent in Eden
was figurative or literal, whether the Medit-
erranean fish did or did not swallow the rec
reant prophet, whether this and that, and
the other thing is right or wrong, come and
disc11ss one question: "How shall / get rid
of nv sins and win heavenF That is the
question for you Yea, there have been
men who have actually lost their souls
because they thought there was discrep-
ancv between Moses and Professor Sill
nan-because they could not understand
how there could be light before the sun
rose-the light appearing in verse 3 of
Genesis, and the sun appearing not until
verse 16-and because they do not know how
the moon could stand still without upsetting
the universe, and because they had decided
upon the theory Of natural selection. A
chief sorrow that he had not devoted his
whole life to the study of the dative case.
Oh, when your Immortality is in peril, why
ouibbleg Quit these non-essentials, my dear
brother In the name of God, ask you in
regard to these matters of the immortal soul,
that you do not play the fool.
What is that man doing over in Bowling
Green, New York; Well, he is going in for
a ticket for a transatlantic voyage. He is
quarreling with the clerk about the spots
the red spots on the ticket--and he is quarrel
ing about the peculiar signature of the presi-
dent of the steamship company, and he is
ouarreling about the manner of the clerk who
hands him the ticket How long has he been
standing therel Three weeks. Meanwhile
perhaps twenty steamers have gone out OF
port, and hear the shrek of the steam tug
that could take him to the last vessel that
could bear him to his engagement in Lon
don. Still he stands in Bowling Green
discussing the ticket. What do you
say in regard to that man? You say
he is q fool Well, in that very way are many
| men acting in regard to many matters of the
soul. They are caviling hbout the atone
ment, the red spots ON the ticket, about the
| character of the minister who hands them the
| ticket-about whether it has divine or hui
| man signature, aud meanwhile, all their OPP
| portunities for heaven are sailing out of the
harbor, and hear the last tap of the bel
| announcing their last chance for heaven. &C
aboard Do not waste any more time in hig
Cling and carping, and critcising, and won
dering, and, in the presence of an astoundeG
| heaven, playing the fool.
go still further and say to you that thost
men play the fool who undertake to pay out
eternity for time. How little care do we be
stow upon the railroad depot where we stoI
| twenty minutes to dine We dash in and W.
dash out again. We do not examine The
architecture of the building nor the face O
the caterer. We supply our hunger, we pay
| our money and we put on our hat and tax,
| our place in the train. What is that depot n
compared with the place for which we arr
boundG Now my friends, this world is only {
| stopping place on the way to a momentous des
| tination, and yet how many of us sit down a
| though we had consunsmated our journey, a
| though we had come to the final depot, wheI
our stopping here is compared with oul
| stopping there as is twenty minutes to twelv,
hours-yea, as the one hundredth part of {
| second compared with ten thousand million
| years. Would Spain sell us Cuba for ,
| bushel of wheat? Would England sell u
1
us all her pictures for an American school
| boys slIctch2 Ali that would be bette
| bargain for England, Spain and Venic
| than that man makes who gives hi
eternity for time. Yet how many Their
are who are saying to-day: "Give me tn
| worlds dollars and you may have the eterna
rewards. Give me the worlds applause AM
| you may have the garlands of God Civ
me twenty, or forty, or sixty years of world,
| successes and / don't care what becomes o
| the future. l am going into that world IN
| insured. l take the responsibility. Don
bother me about your religion. Here l hav
1 the two worlds before me-this one and til
| next. 1 have chosen this Go away fror
me, God and angels, and all thoughts of th
futurcl"
But whore is Croesus, and Cleopatra, an
1Esopas, who had one dish of food that cos
| 81 400, 600; and Lentulus, who had pond c
fish worth S175, 900; and Scaurus, who bougt
country seat for 500, 600, 900; an
Tiberius, who left at death a fol
tune of Sis, 120,oOOl Where are they
If a windy day should blow all the dust this
is left of them into your eyes, it would nj
make you wink twicel All, my friends, the
very certainly your comforts of surroundin
cannot keep back the old archer You car
with plate, or decoy him with pictures, {
bride him with your money.
| What is the use of your struggling for til,
which you cannot keeps As long as yo
have clothes and food and shelter and educ
ton for yourselves and your children and IL
means for Christian generosity, be Statistic,
You worry, and tug, and sweat, and WEI
yourself out for that which cannot satisf-
Whole focks of crows feet ON your templ
and cheeks before they ought to have con
there. You are ten years older than yo
ought to be, and yet you cannot take alon
with You into the future world eve
the two pennies ON your eyelids to keep thel
shut after you are dead And yet you hol
on to this world with the avidity of the mis-
who persisted in having his bonds and NOR
cages and notes of hand in the bosom of
dressing gown while he was dying and in IL
last moment held his parchment in such
tight grip that the undertaken after deaf
must almost break the mans fingers /
order TO get the bonds away Me
are actually making that choice, while thel
are others who have done far differentl,
When they tried to bride with money MART
Luther, some one said: @There's no use irwin
to do that-that Dutch beast cares nothin
for gold" When they tried by giving him
cardinals hat, to bride SavonaroIa, he stoo
up in his pulpit and cried out. Il win hay
no red hat, save that of martyrslom, colore
with my own blood These men choc
Christ amid great prosecutions; but no
many there are in this day, when Chri
tianity seems TO be popular. who are ashame
of Christ and not willing TO take the har
shps-the seeming hardships-of His reIi,
ion. And, alas for theml for long after Il
crash of the worlds demolition, they sha
find that in all these years they were tslrnin
their backs upon the palaces of heaven, scral
bling on the door Of this worlds treasul
house, the saliva of a terrific lunacy on the
lips-horribly and Overwhelmingly playin
the fool.
Once more say to you that those me
play the fool who. while they admit Il
righteousness OF religion, set it down for Fl